It can also eliminate up to nine per cent of nitrous oxide,
a serious greenhouse gas polluter.
The
research was carried out by a team around Jacek Koziel, an associate professor
of agricultural and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University.
About 10
years ago, Koziel used ultraviolet light to break down compounds that are typically
found in swine and poultry odours.
“We have
shown that generic UV light works very well, up to a 100 per cent reduction, of
these key gases,” he said in a press release on the
university’s website.
About two
years ago the Indiana Soybean
Alliance funded a project to look at the use of black light, a
milder version of UV light that is closer to visible light.
Being less
toxic, the black lights would mean fewer concerns about using it in the
presence of the livestock and people working in the facilities.
“The
pilot-scale research project, which was just finished, decreased odour
emissions by 16 per cent while also reducing a key ‘signature’ gas responsible
for the characteristic downwind odour emissions by 22 per cent,” Prof Koziel
said.
